OTT Valentine's gifts: are you smitten enough to spend R12k on dessert?

1. DIAMOND DESSERT

Looking for a spectacular way to cap off your meal? American restaurant Beauty & Essex, which has branches in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, has created a specialty 'Diamonds are Forever' dessert platter that costs a cool R11,901 ($1,000).

It comes with a jewelry box filled with glitter-dusted donuts, a heart-shaped locket filled with sugar jewels, and a chocolate globe hiding a .10 carat white diamond. To wash it all down is a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Rosé Champagne.

WATCH | Peek inside the golden globe on Beauty & Essex's V-Day dessert platter

The extravagant dessert trays must be pre-ordered and are available in limited quantities. 

2. IT'S A SHOE IN

For the hopeless romantic and beauty junkie in your life, the Mandarin Oriental, Paris has partnered with luxury shoemaker Christian Louboutin to offer a Parisian Valentine package.

It includes:

• A one-hour, in-room private manicure, during which you can sip Louis Roederer bubbly and nibble on gourmet chocolates;
• A lip and eye makeover at the flagship Christian Louboutin Paris Beaute boutique; and
• A trio of Louboutin beauty products including mascara, nail varnish and lip beauty oil. 

At R18,292 (€1,245) a night, those familiar with the luxe brand know that the package does not include a pair of Louboutin's signature red-soled heels, which can easily cost R14,692 (€1,000). 

3. CELEB-STYLE ROMANTIC ESCAPE

This year, the Fairmont Dubai has packed every V-Day classic possible into a two-day package that starts with a limo transfer to the hotel, includes a helicopter ride over the city, and ends with chocolate-dipped strawberries and champagne aboard a private yacht.

Here's what you get for the princely sum of R275,128 (AED 85,000) as reported by Hotelier Middle East:

• A stay at the hotel's two-story Imperial Suite, where a private butler awaits with a bouquet of 100 red roses;
• A diamond jewelry set worth R48,550 (AED 15,000);
• Hair and makeup at the hotel salon;
• A seven-course dinner complete with a violinist to serenade you;
• A 40-minute helicopter flight over Dubai;
• A 90-minute couple's massage;
• An afternoon aboard a private yacht where you'll enjoy more bubbly; and
• Dinner at the hotel's steakhouse restaurant.